Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand couldn’t help but send a thinly-veiled invitation for Cristiano Ronaldo to return to the club after the superstar told Real Madrid he wanted to leave Spain.

Widespread reports on Friday claimed Ronaldo had told the La Liga giants that he had made an ‘irreversible’ decision to leave the club after he was accused of tax fraud.

The 32-year-old swapped Old Trafford for the Bernabeu in 2009 for a then world record fee of £80million and United fans would like nothing more than to see their adopted son return to the Theatre of Dreams.

Ronaldo’s reported £1billion release clause would likely put an end to that chase but Ferdinand was doing everything he could to lure the Portugal international back to the club on Twitter.